I won't Last a Day Without You
by Beta Type Jakuri
Summary: He's her best friend. It's been that way since her first summer in town. But when Claire faces the risk of Kai not coming back to Mineral Town, she finally comes to know her true feelings for him. But does he feel the same? Kai/Claire


I Won't Last A Day Without You

Disclaimer: Seriously, I really don't own Harvest Moon.

A/N: Well, here's my second Harvest Moon: MFOMT one shot, I've been at a bit of a block lately, so that is why I have not posted anything since 'Love Makes the World go Round'. Forgive me for that, I put a lot of thought into this one and I hope that you all enjoy it! Oh, and this is a MFOMT fic, but I added in some lines that point to Back to Nature for Girls because they work out very well in this story.

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With a sigh I stretched my toes out in the sand, trying to let myself relax and soak in some sunshine while I was able to. One of the things I loved about Mineral Town, the beach was always very peaceful and relaxing. This was my second summer in the small village since I took over Sol Ranch, and I was very happy with my new life here, I'd made friends with most of the townspeople and my ranch was thriving, though the only thing I could say that sucked about my new life was the fact that my best friend is only here during the summer time. . . . He comes to the town the first day of Summer, June 21st and leaves the first day of Autumn, September 21st.

Luckily though, for now the start of autumn was some long ways off. Two months off to be precise, right now the calenders are all open to the page of warm, humid and the sticky month of July. That gave me all the more reason to want to smile, it meant that when I finished my work at the farm for the day I could come down to the beach and spend time with him, normally in the other seasons of the year when I finished my chores I was left to be bored. I still remember the first time Kai and I met, it was by a complete accident, Carter had asked me to look after the church for a few minutes while he ran to the Super Market. This happened my first Spring here, anyway Cliff had been there but he didn't like the idea of being left alone in the church with me so he quickly followed Carter.

I got bored and wound up checking out the confessional since it was unlocked, lo and behold Kai came into the church to confess something to Carter. I stopped him from talking before he told me something he didn't want anyone but Carter to know. Needless to say he was surprised to find the town's new female farmer in the confessional. Carter came back right after that, he and Kai talked, and when Kai was ready to leave he winked at me and said he was really looking forward to coming back to Mineral Town now. . . . That made me go red and him to laugh as he walked out of the holy building, not to be seen again until late June.

I didn't much like the traveler when he returned, at first I agreed with most of the men in town that saw him as a playboy, and a pervert. But, before I moved to Mineral Town I swore an oath to myself to try and get along with everyone in the town, and that included Kai. Another reason I wound up going around him was because I sort of owed him after what happened a week after he opened his shack, I came down to the beach to do some fishing, only I was wiped out from the heat and I passed out cold in front of his shop. He came outside to take a break and found me laying flat on my stomach with my face in the sand and he himself took me to the Clinic when he didn't have to.

After I came to, he was still there talking to Doctor Trent about why I had fainted. Elli came over to me and asked me how I was feeling, to which I replied, "I've felt better. . . ."

She laughed bit, "It's no wonder you don't feel well. You passed out from the heat earlier."

"So that's what happened . . . wait, I passed out on the beach didn't I?" I questioned.

Elli nodded a reply to me, "You did. If Kai hadn't found you and brought you here when he did you might have very well suffered a heat stroke from passing out in the sun, and the fact you were wearing overalls wouldn't much help you either."

I only half heard the part about my overalls, "Wait; did you say that **Kai** was the one who brought me here?"

"I most certainly did Claire. He came in here a few hours ago, with you in his arms passed out and almost looking blue!"

I let out a regrettable groan at that, just the day before I had called him a perverted player who only was talking to me because I was a girl. . . . "Great, now I'm going to owe him." I sighed to myself, rubbing my forehead.

While I had been busy talking to myself, I hadn't noticed that Elli had walked away from me and that someone else had taken her place.

"Yeah you will." At hearing a voice that wasn't Elli's I squeaked and I jumped in surprise, looking straight up at the owner of the voice.

"K-Kai. . . ." I stuttered out almost monotone. At this point I wasn't sure what to say to him, as dumb as that sounded. "A-Ah, this is where I say 'Thank you', right?" I muttered out embarrassed that I hadn't already said that to him.

He sort of smirked at me when I asked that, "Normally when someone hulls your passed out butt to a hospital without having too, that is usually the first thing you say to them." he replied.

A red blush spread over my face when he said that, I sighed loudly. "Sorry, saying 'Thank you' is not something I'm used to," I paused, "Thank you for saving my butt from possible heatstroke."

He let out a laugh at my version of a 'Thank you', "You certainly have a way with words don't you Miss Farmer?" he sarcastically asked me.

I sent him a glare, "Well now, I never said I was a poet did I?"

"No, I guess you didn't, if you were one you certainly wouldn't be trying to run a hopeless old farm."

I went to stand up to yell a smart remark to him, only went I did get to my feet I got hit with a sudden wave of dizziness, and my legs felt like pudding. "Uh, that's not suppose to happen. . . ." I moaned as I set a hand on my head and lowered myself back down to the bed.

"Claire don't get yourself over worked now, you might have woken up, but your body is still very drained. Right now what you need to do is to go home and go to bed early after eating a good meal." Doctor Trent walked into the small room, making notes on a clipboard.

"Uhh. . . ?" I groaned, looking over to him in a total daze. Honestly I had only half heard what he said to me.

At my zombie like response, the Doctor looked at Kai, "Kai, I don't know if this is asking too much, but do you think that you could help Claire get home tonight? With how her condition is right now, I don't think she can take care of herself properly."

I shook my head slowly, "N-No . . . Doctor, I'll be fine I just got up too fast. . . ." I tried to protest, only my words were slow.

Even with my protests, Kai smiled a large grin and said, "Sure Doc, it isn't a problem."

"I can take care of myself from here on out! I'm fine." I tried to say again, though, much to my annoyance, both of the men ignored me.

"Very well, I leave her in your care." Doctor Trent responded before leaving the room and heading back to his office.

Kai turned back to me, who was looking at him in annoyance. "Well then, do you think you'll be able to stand and walk? Or am I going to have to carry you there?" he half teased me with a slightly suggestive smirk on his face.

"Uh! I said I could take care of myself, I just got up to fast before and got a head rush!" I retorted, I tried to prove my point by jolting upwards to my feet again. And like the previous time I was struck with a wave of dizziness, and my legs felt weak. I tried to feign like I was perfectly fine by taking a few testing steps on my weak legs, "S-See? I-I'm fine now. I-I just needed t-to walk a-a bit. . . ." I said with a falsely confident smile.

Despite my efforts, Kai still had a smirk on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him, "I told you I'm fine–ahh!" I tried to say, though when I became unnerved I wound up losing my focus on keeping my legs from buckling and I wound up nearly collapsing into the ground. . . . I was sort of braced for impact, only that impact had never come. Instead, what had happened was that Kai had actually caught me before I fell, now he was holding me up, via his arms wrapped around my waist.

"Stubborn little thing aren't we? Well, I guess I'm going to have to carry you home then!" he hadn't even given me a chance to reply before I was hoisted up and into his arms, bridal style. And he carried me home, me blushing all the way there.

When we got there Kai said that I now owned him, BIG time too. He told me he wouldn't hold it over my head as long as I was a regular customer at his Beach Shack. To which I had to agree, if there was something I didn't like, it was being indebted to someone. And also, right before he left he put an odd looking seashell in my hand, when I asked him what it was he only smiled and replied, "It's my lucky charm. I brought it with me from another town, I want you to have it."

I tried to protest to that and give it back, but he told me that if I didn't keep it, he'd be personally insulted. . . . So, I wound up keeping the shell against my will. But since the end of Summer last year, I didn't tell Kai this, but I've carried that shell with me at all times.

Though, I will admit that most of what happened back then was very awkward for me at that time, now a days those few memories are some of the most fond I have of Kai and I. I laugh at them now, though they do still cause my cheeks to turn pink because of the fact that he carried me home in such a way that one would call it romantic. Ever since Kai and I started to become closer, I've been aware of the fact that for the past few years he and another local girl, Popuri, have had an on again and off again relationship. I wasn't fond of the fact that they were so wishy-washy about whether or not they were an item.

But, it was one small flaw I was willing to overlook at the price of Kai's friendship, even if it meant that I and Popuri, and her brother Rick, would not get along well, then so be it I guess. Rick didn't like Kai because he and Popuri were somewhat dating, and he also didn't like anyone who was friends _with_Kai, namely me. And Popuri didn't much care for me because she thought I was trying to take Kai from her or something, even though I have told her many times that he and I were just friends, close friends mind you, but just that.

Well . . . I thought that's all we were, or at least what he was to me. I thought that he was just a close friend to me, and that's all he'd ever be. It wasn't until today that I found myself thinking on a different page. It didn't happen first thing when I woke up of course, but instead later on when I saw Kai stalking in an angry fashion down the stone steps from Rose Square to his shop that it all started.

When I heard the sounds of footsteps in the sand behind me I looked up, expecting to find a happy Kai, like I normally did everyday. Today was one of those rare few days I changed out of my overalls after work and into something more feminine before coming down to the beach, I had opted out pants for a nice pale blue light weight cotton sundress and my slip on shoes for flip-flop sandals.

With a smile, I turned my head around to greet Kai as always. "Afternoon Kai!" I said with a smile like I always did.

Unlike what he normally would do, smile back and greet me, he looked at me with an angered look on his face. "Hey Claire." he replied harshly before opening up the door to his shack and going in without another word.

I stared at the now shut door in confusion, ". . . .Kai?" I muttered questioningly, pulling myself up to my feet to investigate Kai's sour mood.

I pulled my feet out of the sand and slipped on my white foam flip-flops. I walked up to the door of Kai's shack, unsure of how to go about this. Instead of barging in, I raised one of my small fists and knocked on the door. "Kai? Are you okay? Did something happen?" I asked nervously, I wasn't used to dealing with an upset Kai.

I heard a chair's legs scrap against the floor before I got an answer, "Everything's fine Claire." his voice was muffled by the door.

I pouted at his answer, I could clearly tell something was wrong. "Like heck everything's fine Kai, something's wrong with you!" I shouted at him through the door, when he didn't respond to that I yelled again. "Kai you might not be able to see it right now but I am not a happy person right now! And whether you like it or not I am coming in." I warned him before I opened the door in an angry fashion of my own.

Kai looked up at me from the seat he sat in, an unpleasant look on his face. "Claire, I told you that everything is fine, now if you don't mind I'd like to be alone for a bit."

With a huff, I slammed the door to the Beach Shack behind me as I walked further into the small place, completely ignoring what Kai had just said.

The man let out a sigh when he realized I wasn't going anywhere. That came about to be realized when he saw me grab a chair of my own to sit down in next to him.

Blankly I stared right at Kai when I sat down, "You really ought to know that by now I know you well enough to know when you are fine and when you aren't." I poked him as I said that.

"Do you now?" he replied.

"What do you think Kai?" I answered.

Kai now was resting his chin in his right hand, he had the elbow on the table in front of him. "You know that it is bad English to answer a question with a question don't you?"

I suppressed a laugh at that, "And you know that you just violated that rule, right?" I paused, not giving Kai a chance to reply. "Now tell me what is the matter Kai, and don't give me another unnecessary Grammar lesson."

He sighed. "Fine I'll tell you Claire. It's Popuri. . . ." he paused, letting out a heavy breath.

I mentally slapped my forehead, I should have figured that this had to do with her. I suppressed my distaste for the girl and kept my composure in check before responding. "What's up between you two?" I asked as concerned as I could.

"Claire, I think that she and I are through for good this time. You know as well as anyone else that we've always had a rocky relationship, and that we were always breaking up and making up. But this time, she and I had the worst fight we've ever had. . . . It ended with her running home in tears and shouting that she never wanted to see me again." he explained.

"Whoa, that doesn't sound good." In my chest I felt my heart skip a beat for a weird reason, as if I were excited about the possibility about Kai and Popuri being over for good.

Kai let out a scoff. "It wasn't, I'm betting anything that Rick is going to come looking for me at anytime now to try and beat me to a pulp for making Poppy cry like that."

I set my hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry if he does come looking for you, he'll have to go through _me_ first!" I half joked, I had said that to try and cheer him up, but at the same time I meant that. If Rick did try to pull anything on Kai I'd kick his butt myself! I took four years of karate when I was in high school, so I'm not entirely defenseless.

Kai gave me a light smile, "I wouldn't let you do that. I'm the one who upset Popuri."

The last sentence he spoke made something click in my brain, "Wait a second. . . . Kai you never said what you and Popuri fought about. What was bad enough to make you two fight to the point of possibly being over for good?"

He grimaced for a second and looked away from me, I could have sworn I saw his face turn a light shade of red. "Kai–?" I started, only I was interrupted by a loud bang on the door, one that made me jump and fall out of my chair.

"Ouch. . . ." I muttered looking over to the door when it suddenly opened with a great amount of force, more than I used to open it.

In walked a very upset Rick. His face was stark red, and he looked like he was going to explode. "Kai I told you to stay away from my sister didn't I?!" he yelled.

Kai looked up at the chicken farmer, "Since when was it up to you to decided other people's actions Rick?"

"You're nothing but a self-centered jerk! You toyed around with Poppy's heart and you broke it when you were done with her! I've never seen her so upset before in my life!" From where I was sitting on the floor I got an eye full of Rick's fists. They were balled up tightly, and it looked like he was ready to swing at any given time, I say this because his right hand was twitching.

Kai himself stood up now, and cooly looked at Rick. "We got into a fight because of something she asked me to do, she asked me to do something I couldn't do."

"I don't care what she asked you to do! You made her upset Kai, you're the reason my little sister is up in her room sobbing her eyes out with the door locked!!" Rick yelled. "I wish you'd just stay out of Mineral Town for good! Most of the people here can't stand you anyway! So why do you even bother to come here anymore?!" Again my heart skipped a beat, something I wasn't used to, I couldn't imagine Kai not coming back to Mineral Town every Summer. . . .

I bit my lower lip in anger, trying to control my temper best I could as I stood up from my place on the floor.

Kai smirked, "Last time I checked Rick, this was a free country. I can come and go as I please, it isn't illegal."

I heard Rick let out what sounded like a growl at Kai's words, "You should be banned from ever stepping foot in this town again! All you ever do is flirt around with all of the girls in town and you make them fall for you and you just toy with them for the fun of it! Just like what you did to Popuri, and what you're doing to Claire! As soon as she came along you moved from toying with my sister to toying around with her!"

At this I lost my own temper, "Rick will you just shut up!? Yeah, Kai upset your sister, but that doesn't give you the right to act like Mr. Macho and go around yelling at him! I don't care _what_ happened, you have no right to act like such a jerk!" I shouted at him, I had my own fists clenched now.

"You stay out of this, my fight is with Kai, not his new little toy!" Rick shouted back at me.

Now it was my turn to growl, "I'm not Kai's toy! He's my best **friend** you lug head!"

Before Rick had a chance to yell back at me Kai interrupted. "You know what Rick, you don't have to worry about me 'toying' around with any of the girls in town anymore. That includes Popuri. Because, in the morning you'll get what you want, I'm leaving Mineral Town, and I won't be back for a long while." At that my heart not only skipped a beat, it dropped into my stomach from complete dread and shock. I looked at Kai with wide eyes, and my mouth agape.

"Kai. . . ?" I murmured.

"Good! It'll be nice to not have to see you anymore, and to not have to worry about you hurting Poppy! I can't wait for you to get out of here in the morning–!" Rick never had a chance to finish his rant. A loud slap sounded out from nowhere.

I held my right arm in front of me, my calloused palm was red now and it was stinging from the sudden, and violent contact it had just made with Rick's now red left cheek. Rick's head was turned, he wasn't moving, in shock from what I had just done. The small room was silent, Kai staring at me like I'd just grown another head.

"Rick, if you know what is good for you, you'll leave now. You'll keep your big mouth shut and walk out the door right now and go home. If you don't, to put it bluntly, I will make sure that you'll never be able to have children. Got it?" I said coldly to him.

Rick looked at me with a cold glare, but he spoke no words. He turned his head back to face me, and I lowered my arm, holding my own glare at him. He moved away from me and left the beach shack without saying one more word to either Kai or me. After the door shut, I felt the adrenaline high I had been on from slapping Rick wear away, and a heavy feeling washed into me. Deep sadness that Kai had said he would be leaving in the morning, along with something else I didn't understand. It was a feeling I wasn't entirely familiar with, nor one I had felt for Kai before.

I had felt this feeling before when I still lived in the city, I'd felt it for my first serious boyfriend but . . . I couldn't be feeling it for Kai could I? After all, the feeling I had carried then was _love_. It couldn't be that I was possibly starting to love him could it. . . ? Quiet tears formed in my eyes at this thought. Why now? Why was it that I was beginning to feel this way now?!

"Claire? Claire, are you okay?" I heard Kai ask me quietly, snapping me away from my thoughts.

I turned around to face him. "Yeah Kai, I'm okay." I answered somberly. I felt the warm tears beginning to fall from my eyes now, leaving trails on my face as they were left to drip off of my chin.

Kai didn't say anything to me, so I did the talking instead.

"Are you really going to leave tomorrow Kai?"

He nodded when I asked him that. I bit my lip again and looked down, and away from him as I felt more tears escape from my eyes.

"Then, Kai, if you're really going to leave tomorrow can I ask you to at least answer one question for me?" I almost whispered, it was taking everything I had to not break down and sob my eyes out.

"Yeah, it's the very least I can do isn't it?" he replied.

I let out a sad laugh, "Heh, bad Grammar Kai. . . ." I teased, "But, Kai you never did tell me what it was that you and Popuri fought about. What did she say to get you so mad?" I looked back up to him.

Kai let out a sigh, "Claire. . . . What if I told you that the reason Popuri and I fought had something to do with what Rick had said as being somewhat of the truth?"

I looked at him confused, "I-I don't understand. . . ." My heart sank even deeper.

Without warning, Kai's arms enveloped me into an embrace. One of his arms was wrapped around my waist and the other cradled my head in its grasp. Shock overcame me. I felt my heart begin to race at the intimate action, and from the fact that we were so close together.

"Claire, "Popuri wanted me to not ever talk to you again. She wanted me to completely cut you out of my life, otherwise she told me that she would leave me. It was you or her." Kai said softly. "I told her that I wasn't going to choose between you both, you were my closest friend and that I did like her, but not enough to cut you out of my life, even if I have known her longer."

I let out a gasp that caused Kai to tighten his hold on me. "Kai? Why didn't you just stay with her? I know how much Popuri means to you. I could've survived. . . ."

Kai let out a light laugh, "You would say that. Claire, there's something I've been keeping from you. It's true that I did have some feelings for Popuri, but last summer when I came back to Mineral Town there was this little, spunky blonde farmer who passed out, outside of my shop. . . . I took her to the Clinic, and she's been coming to my shop every day I'm in town since. She says that I'm only her **friend**, but for me, she is a dear friend, though there is something I've been hiding from her. I haven't told her that I've fallen hard for her recently."

My eyes widened when I heard him say that. As if it were second nature, I raised my arms and wrapped them around Kai, returning his embrace. I smiled a little. "Kai, I'm not sure what to say exactly, but . . . I think that, I think that little blonde farmer might have fallen for you too without realizing it."

Kai pulled away from me, though he still had a firm grip on my shoulders, he looked me square in the eyes. "You mean that Claire?"

My cheeks were still wet with tears, though now they were tears of joy, with a slight smile I nodded one time. "I'm not sure where it happened or when, but Kai I think that I love you."

He smiled back at me when I said that. I took notice of the fact that he and I were very close at the moment, and I did something I normally would never do. Kai was at least a head taller that I was, but at that one moment he was leaning over, meaning he was just at the right height for me to raise myself onto my toes to close the gap between us.

It was a simple kiss, we stood like that for a few moments and when we parted we both looked at one another with a red face. "Kai, do you really have to leave tomorrow. . . ?" I asked him.

"Know what Claire, that little blond farmer I was telling you about might just have convinced me to stay here in Mineral Town awhile longer." Kai smiled.

I smiled back, "I love you Kai, I really do. . . ." I said quietly.

As it turned out, Kai did decide to stay in Mineral Town until the Fall. I was certain that he was going to leave town when the seasons changed, and that I wouldn't see him again until the following year. Our relationship had lasted for the remainder of the Summer, and I hoped that it would last into the next year. Though I wouldn't say it to his face, I was going to be miserable without him. . . .

It was the day that he was suppose to be leaving on the ship, to head back to the mainland. I stood quietly by the Seaside Shack, I was dressed up nicely to see Kai off. A white peasant top was worn on my torso, a long ankle length black skirt on my legs and a pair of black sandals, my hair was worn back that day in a simple ponytail.

I heard footsteps on the sand, I looked up to see that it was none other than Kai, all packed up and ready to go. I smiled at him, and both of us without any words walked next to each other down the pier to where the ship was docked and ready to sail. Before he got on board he turned to me.

I smiled a sad smile to him, "I'm going to so anxious for Summer to come from now on. . . ." I said to him.

"Me too, more than ever before. . . ." Kai replied, a tint of sadness was in his voice.

A tear dripped down my cheek, "I'm going to really miss you Kai." I said quietly.

Kai looked down to the wooden planks beneath us unsure of what he was going to say next. "C-Claire? I've been putting this off for the last week now. . . . I meant to ask you this at the Fireworks Festival, but I couldn't work up the guts to."

I tilted my head to the side curiously. "Kai?"

Kai set his suitcases down at his feet and pulled something out of the inner pocket of his outer shirt. "Claire, will you marry me?" he opened his hand and in it was a blue feather.

"Kai? You're serious? But I thought you hated staying in places where the seasons change. . . ." I muttered.

"W-Well, you're the first person I've been willing to put up with the seasons for, Claire I'm sure of it. I love you. . . ." he said nervously.

I held back a sob, and I smiled. "Of course I'll marry you Kai. . . ."

A week after that, he and I were married. Kai lives permanently in Mineral Town with me. . . . And we couldn't be happier now that we have a new member of the family on the way!

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-End

A/N: How was it? This is only my second one shot, so I hope it came out pretty good. Tell me what you thought of the storyline, if this one was good I'll write more again. I wrote this one because I got a lot of positive feedback on my first one shot, if this one gets positive feedback I'll start to work on another story.

But first I'd like to ask something; if I do another one shot for Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town, what pairing would you like me to write about?

Claire/Cliff

Claire/Grey

Claire/Kai

Claire/Rick

Claire/Doctor Trent

I'm willing to do another one about Cliff and Claire, and I have several ideas for another Claire and Kai one. But I also have a couple of ideas for the other pairings. Depending on how many votes one pairing gets, the one with the most will be the focal point of my next story.


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